Canada 150 Wilson Expo

The Canada 150 Wilson Expo will be a cross-curricular full day event presented by students from Donald A. Wilson Secondary School in Whitby, Ontario.

Written by Flora Fung 2011 recipient of the Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching

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April 26, 2017

It started with a cake.

As we sang Happy Birthday, at a recent family birthday, it occurred to me that many songs would be sung for Canada’s approaching 150th birthday celebration. Then the realization hit how would my school be celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday, and what would we do to make this celebration meaningful and insightful? After many ideas and consultation with school administration and various departments, Canada 150 Expo at Wilson Secondary School was born.

The Canada 150 Wilson Expo will be a cross-curricular full day event presented by our Wilson students to the grade eight students of our feeder schools. The day is divided into two parts: “Canada the Past 150” in the morning and “Canada the Future 150” in the afternoon.

The day will consist of rotations including a drama presentation, a scavenger hunt using a giant Canadian Decade collage created by this year’s grade ten students and a video session with Historica Canada on what Canada means to them. The food classes here at Wilson will be providing a tasting display of regional foods from across Canada and the day will end with a panel discussion, led by community and history members. During this panel discussion, panelists will discuss with students their vision for Canada in the next 150 years. The day will end with the singing of Happy Birthday and of course, cake.

To prepare for this event, students in all the grade ten Canadian history classes have been reflecting on what Canada means to them and the meaning of Canadian identity. They have also researched and created decade collages showing the changes in Canada in the last 150 years.